Janet saw him stoop and pick up off the ground a canvas bag, through the opening of which she saw stones, such as might be picked up on the shore of the lake or almost anywhere on the island.
"I hope I shall see you again, little girl," went on the tramp, as Janet called him afterward when telling the story. "And when I do, I hope I'll have some red flowers for you. Good-bye!"
Janet was so surprised by the quick way in which the man ran off through the woods with his bag of stones that she did not answer or say good-bye. She just stood looking at the quivering bushes which closed up behind him and showed which way the man had gone. Janet could not see him any longer.
A moment later she heard the bushes behind her crackling, and, turning quickly, she saw Ted and Trouble coming toward her.
"What's the matter?" called her older brother. "Did you see another bear—I mean a fox?"
"No. But I saw a tramp man," replied Janet. "Oh, but he was awful ragged!"
"A tramp!" cried Ted. "Then we'd better get away from here. We'd better go and tell grandpa!"
Janet thought the same thing, and, after telling Ted all that had happened and what she and the man had said, the Curlytops hurried back through the woods to the camp.
"A ragged man on the island; is that it?" asked Grandpa Martin, when Jan told him what had happened. "It must be as Mr. Crittendon said, that there are tramps here. Though what they are doing I don't know. There isn't anything to eat here, except what we brought. And you haven't missed anything, have you, Nora? Has anybody been taking your strawberry shortcake or apple dumplings from the tent kitchen?"
"No, Mr. Martin, they haven't," Nora answered.